Friday, July 22, 2016

WIENER-DOG

It’s a dog’s life—at least Wiener-Dog’s life, which goes through five owners.Throughout, the dog appears to be
serene and offers great comfort and satisfaction to others, most of whose lives
are miserable.Remi (Cooke) treasures
Wiener-Dog, and gives her that name.Unfortunately, his parents (Letts and Delpy) are poor dog (or child)
caretakers, don’t train their son in the basics of caring for an animal, and
take it to the vet to be put down.

The vet’s assistant manages to rescue the
anesthetized dog when the vet answers the phone, takes it home with her, and
nurses it back to health.Writer-director Todd Solondz slips bizarre bits of humor in his films,
and here, he has included two characters from a previous movie, Welcome to the Dollhouse.The nurse, played by Greta Gerwig, is
named Dawn Wiener, the character in Dollhouse
who was teased and called “Wiener Dog” at school.Now she is grown up and chances to meet a fellow classmate
from grade school, Brandon McCarthy (McCulkin), who calls out to her, “Wiener
Dog!”After chatting a bit, he
asks if she wants to go to Ohio with him.He doesn’t seem to care that much for her, but he likes the dog.

In Ohio, they stay with his brother and his
wife (both of whom seem to have Down’s Syndrome).Dawn is so good-hearted, when the couple really takes to the
dog, which she has named Doody, she leaves her with them in their stable
suburban neighborhood.

Somehow, though, the dog manages to get out and
go exploring for many miles, and is picked up by Dave (DeVito), a severely
depressed, angry screenwriter and teacher at a film school, where he is about
to be fired because of his negative attitude.He comes up with a plan that I won’t divulge, and the dog
ends up going to another owner.

Nana (Burstyn) is very old and mostly blind, so
has a caretaker, but the dog sits by her constantly and seems to be about the
only joy she has in life.But the story
doesn’t end there…

Continuing his recurring themes about troubled
people and families, death, and cruelty Solondz dishes those up again in this
film, and although it’s labeled a “comedy” it is not likely to draw out much
laughter.I did find Danny DeVito
funny at times, such as after giving a synopsis of his sordid screenplay, he
moans, “I wanted it to be funny.”I also chuckled when he puts a frilly dress on Wiener-Dog and takes her
out walking, and when he continually instructs him film students that every
screenplay starts with “What if…”.

The cast of actors is really fine, and James
Lavino’s music and Edward Lachman’s cinematography all brighten up the screen
in its telling some very dark tales.The exception, of course, is the interminably long shot of dog diarrhea.

You’ll say, “Awwwww” to Wiener-Dog
herself, but "Noooo" to the dark tale.